Agenda item

To provide an overview of employment data and to respond to the Committee’s concerns about worklessness, insecurity of work and low pay.

Cllr White opened this item, noting that the Committee had requested this report due to concerns raised at the ‘Scrutiny Café’ consultation event about worklessness, insecurity of work and low pay in some areas of Haringey.

Helen McDonough, Head of Inclusive Economy, then introduced the report which included details of the Council’s programmes, initiatives and levers around employment and skills. It also provided background information from Capital City College about their work in Haringey. Helen McDonough highlighted some key points from the report:

• Haringey had higher overall levels of unemployment when compared to statistical neighbours and some areas of Haringey had some of the highest levels of unemployment in London.
• Within the number of people in Haringey who were economically inactive, there were relatively high levels of people who were inactive for reasons of ill health.
• Haringey had one of the lowest levels of job density in London which impacted on opportunities for residents to be able to access work. In addition, jobs in sectors that were lower paying were overrepresented in Haringey which contributed to high levels of people experiencing in-work poverty.
• The lack of the right skills was a significant issue for Haringey residents and the report included information about the support available. The Council provided direct services through the Adult Learning Service and Haringey Works and also worked closely with partners including Jobcentre Plus and Capital City College. The support provided by the Council was directed at those furthest from the job market who experienced the most barriers to employment as these were the residents who struggled to access mainstream provision such as Jobcentre Plus.

Mark Burrows, Group Principal, Adult & Higher Education at Capital City College then spoke about the work of his organisation and how, through the partnership with Haringey Learns and Jobcentre Plus, they were coordinating and channelling pathways for learners. He explained that 42.5% of the College’s learners had low prior attainment or no qualifications and the College had built pathways for them, including through ESOL (English for Speakers of Second Languages), English/Maths training and career advice and guidance. This approach was aligned to the GLA’s Inclusive Talent Strategy and Industrial Strategy. He added that Capital City College ‘Adult Achievement’ levels were in the high 90s (in terms of percentage). Finally, he noted that as part of National Apprenticeship Week, they were raising awareness around apprenticeships as a good option for Haringey residents to benefit from improved skills, income and social mobility.

Helen McDonough and Mark Burrows then responded to questions from the Committee:

• Cllr Gunes commented that most of the provisions offered by the Council were aimed at entry-level positions with low or no qualifications, but felt that there were other young people who may be more able, but were from disadvantaged backgrounds, who did not appear to be offered much support. Helen McDonough understood the concern but explained that around 80% of the funding was from external sources and tended to be focused on specific cohorts, particularly people who were inactive in the labour market. Mark Burrows added that there were difficult decisions to be made around where the funding was directed as the need for basic skills in the Borough was well recognised and important for the community.
• Cllr Gunes highlighted the huge scale of new buildings and developments in the Borough and noted the reference in the report about job creation and Section 106 (S106) agreements. She requested further details on how local people were benefiting from these developments in terms of employment opportunities.

o   Helen McDonough agreed that this was enormous opportunity and that the Council’s main lever was the planning consent process. She explained that for any major development there was a requirement for the developer to deliver a percentage of construction phase jobs and also end-use jobs. Within Haringey Works there was a construction adviser who worked with residents, the contractor and the apprenticeship lead at Capital City College and this collaboration aimed to place people with opportunities arising from the development. She added that some of the contractors were only in the Borough for a short period of time, but that all of those with obligations in this area would work with her team on a monthly and quarterly basis on utilising these opportunities for local jobs and training.

o   Mark Burrows explained that Capital City College’s work included linking employers with learners earlier, but noted that there were challenges with staff shortages in the construction and engineering sectors. The College aimed to persuade employers to develop and invest in the future workforce and to work together to address the barriers between the completion of qualification courses and starting work in the industry. Practical measures to support this included site visits, employee-led training and project-based learning.

• Asked by Cllr Gunes how the S106 obligations were monitored and enforced, Helen McDonough explained that, prior to the full planning consent being granted, the developer would need to sign off an employment and skills plan and then report to her team on a monthly basis. The Council also had regular meetings with contractors, including for monthly construction meetings and with the involvement of Capital City College.
• Commenting on the discussion, Cllr Ruth Gordon, Cabinet Member for Placemaking and Local Economy, said that it was difficult to shift the dial in terms of unemployment and deprivation in the context of the challenging economic outlook for the UK economy, despite significant resources being put into areas such as Northumberland Park and Seven Sisters. She added that the Council had a policy of community wealth-building including employment originating from the Council’s Procurement Strategy and the house building programme and spending with local businesses. This included the Civic Centre refurbishment programme which was achieving an estimated £7.3m in social value that was contributing to the local economy and local businesses through the construction.
• Cllr Connor requested further details on social value and the funds being directed into employment and skills in Haringey by developers. Helen McDonough explained that the social value portal was used to calculate the value of what had been committed to by the developer, for example on the number of apprenticeships, which would then be contributing to the local economy. Cllr Gordon cited a new framework for catering as another example of community wealth building, which local businesses could apply to be a part of and would include catering at the Civic Centre. Cllr White queried whether comparative data could be provided on the social value benefit from a S106 agreement when compared to the social value benefit from a direct delivery Council project such as the Civic Centre redevelopment. Helen McDonough said that the requirements for a direct delivery programme were the same as those used for an external developer, but she would look into what data could be provided to the Committee. Cllr White emphasised that the Committee was concerned more with the outcomes than the requirements. (ACTION)
• With regard to the Haringey Works offer, Cllr Connor noted that most initiatives seemed to be short-term projects of one to two years and asked how outcomes were being achieved on a continuous basis. Helen McDonough acknowledged that the funding and delivery of the landscape of employment support provision was fragmented, often with short-term funding that could have complex criteria. Much of the data in this area had not been included in the report because it had not been in the remit of the request, but further details could be provided if required. She added that, for all programmes that were funded, the Council was required to provide information about the outputs (e.g. number of people, training outcomes, employment outcomes). She noted that the Council made various bids for external funding, including the Connect to Work programme which provided a degree of funding security and enabled innovative working with residents in the community with health partners. In addition, there was adult skills funding provided by the Greater London Authority (GLA).
• Cllr Small noted that the vast majority of Capital City College learners appeared to be school leavers and requested further context on this and the age groups involved. Mark Burrows said that there was a mixed economy in this area with a high proportion of adults taking the ESOL courses for example while, with school leavers, there were certain qualifications, such as construction, that didn’t match up with a school curriculum.
• Asked by Cllr Small about the current structural issues and gaps faced in Haringey, in terms of industrial land and appealing to various sectors, Helen McDonough said that it was difficult to look at structural issues in a local context as Haringey was part of the wider London labour market. However, Haringey was an outlier in terms of low job density and so supporting the growth of businesses in the Borough, improved accessibility to high education and the balance of sectors in Haringey all had an impact on local opportunities. She noted that there were significant strengths in Haringey with a growing, vibrant, creative sector as well as connectivity and the ability of people to get to jobs. Other factors included changes to the skills demand for entry level jobs, which could be a barrier to some of those trying to enter the labour market. The Council’s skills provision aimed to address the gaps in provision for residents with lower skill levels, including paid work placements and specialised offers for those who were not in work for reasons such as mental health or substance misuse.
• Cllr Lawton queried what measures could potentially address low job density and how Haringey compared to statistically similar Boroughs. Helen McDonough said that a key element was having a vibrant business community in the Borough that wanted to grow and stay in the Borough, so this required having the right support in place. The GLA was currently working on a new business support strategy for London and the feedback from small businesses was that support was needed at the growth phase and not just the start-up phase. She added that geographical neighbours such as Enfield and Waltham Forest had a higher level of job density and that a significant issue was attracting larger employers into the Borough which had been articulated in the Council’s Inclusive Economy Framework. She also noted that there was data available which mapped out job density, inactivity in the labour market and unemployment across the Boroughs and at a sub-regional level which could be provided to the Committee. Cllr Lawton noted that the data in this area could be highly relevant to future scrutiny work in this area. (ACTION)
• Cllr Gunes highlighted the issue of employers such as construction firms or care providers bringing their workforce in from outside of the Borough or overseas rather than recruiting local people. Helen McDonough said that the Council did use levers where it could, including through the promotion of Haringey Works to bring local people into construction jobs. She added that the construction sector had some workforce challenges including an ageing workforce and changing methods of construction which required new skills and could lead to some firms bringing in their own teams. Mark Burrows echoed these concerns which included worries in the construction sector about an approaching ‘cliff-edge’ for the industry. However, there were construction firms that were keen to progress this agenda including through the initiatives of the Technical Excellence College in construction in London and a wider matrix of institutions that could help to map out future provision.
• Cllr Connor suggested that future scrutiny work in this area should consider what young people understood to be the offer in the Borough and how this was being promoted in schools. (ACTION) Mark Burrows agreed that this was an important point and said that the Capital City College did engagement work with schools which was particularly valuable given the complex nature of the qualification market with apprenticeships, A-Levels, T-Levels and also V-Levels soon. The approach was to provide an inclusive front door with the right information about pathways and subject areas.